Halloween All Hallow's Eve.

1992 Inquisition Pope John Paul II announces that the Catholic Church erred by imprisoning Galileo for his belief that the Earth revolved around the Sun.

1987 Mighty Mouse Accused of Drug Abuse Claims are made that he sniffed cocaine in the episode of the Saturday morning cartoon that originally aired today. The producers claimed that he was sniffing flowers that had been crushed by a bully.

1968 Vietnam War Pres. Johnson announces that the U.S. will cease the bombing of North Vietnam.

1950 First black to play in a regular-season NBA game Earl Lloyd with the Washington Capitols against the Rochester Royals. They lost 78-70.

1941 Mt. Rushmore The memorial is completed. Work had begun in 1927 by sculpture Gutzon Borglum who died in March leaving his son to complete the task.

1864 Nevada becomes the 36th state.

1517 Martin Luther The German religious reformer starts the Protestant reformation when he nails his 95 theses against the corruption of the papacy in Rome to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg.

1967 Vanilla Ice (Robert Van Winkle), American singer.

1961 Larry Mullen Irish drummer, with U2. Music: Sunday Bloody Sunday (1983) and With You Or Without You (1987, #1).

1950 John Candy d. 1994 Canadian Emmy-winning actor. Film: Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) and Uncle Buck (1989, title role). TV: Second City TV, and Saturday Night Live.

1950 Jane Pauley American newscaster.

1948 Deidre Hall American actress. TV: Days of Our Lives (Dr. Marlena Evans).

1947 Frank Shorter American marathon runner. He won Olympic gold for the marathon in 1972.

1942 David Ogden Stiers American actor. TV: M*A*S*H (Charles Emerson Winchester).

1936 Michael Landon d. 1991 (Eugene Orowitz), American actor. TV: Bonanza (Little Joe).

1931 Dan Rather American Emmy-winning newscaster. TV: 60 Minutes.

1922 Barbara Bel Geddes American Emmy-winning actress. TV: Dallas (Miss Ellie).

1912 Dale Evans (Frances Butts), American actress, partner of Roy Rogers.

1900 Robert Calvin Hubbard d. 1977 American athlete, the first person to be elected to three sports halls of fame: National Football Hall of Fame (1962), Football Hall of Fame (1963), and the National Baseball Hall of Fame (1976).

1896 Ethel Waters d. 1977 American actress, singer, first black actress nominated for an Emmy (1961, for an episode of Route 66) and the first black star of a TV dramatic series (1950-53, Beulah). She was the second colored actress to be nominated for an Academy Award. Harold Arlen composed the song Stormy Weather for her.

1887 Chiang Kai-shek d. 1975 Chinese general, head of state (1927-75). He led the Allied forced in China during World War II.

1860 Juliette Low d. 1927 American woman, founder of the Girl Scouts of America (1912).

1828 Joseph Wilson Swan d. 1914 English inventor, chemist. Known for his development of dry photographic plates, he also invented a carbon element electric light (1860), which was the basis of Edison's light 20 years later. Swan patented his incandescent light in 1879, a year before Edison patented his.

1802 Benoît Fourneyron d. 1867 French inventor, "Father of the Turbine." He designed the first practical water turbine (1827).

1795 John Keats d. 1821 English poet. Writings: Endymion (1818) and Eve of St. Agnes (1820).

1705 Clement XIV d. 1774 Italian religious leader, 249th Pope (1769-74). He was pressured into issuing a brief abolishing the Jesuits (1773).

1993 River Phoenix b. 1970 American actor. Film: Stand By Me (1986), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and My Own Private Idaho (1991).

1993 Federico Fellini b. 1920 Italian Oscar-winning director, La Dolce Vita (1959), The Loafers (1953), La Strada (1954, Oscar), 8½ (1963, Oscar), and Amarcord (1973, Oscar). The word "paparazzo" is from the name of a character in La Dolce Vita.

1990 Roger Price b. 1918 American humorist, creator of Droodles (simplified abstract drawings), which launched a TV show in 1954. See Droodles

1988 John Houseman b. 1902 (Jacques Haussmann), American Oscar-winning actor. Film: The Paper Chase (1973, Oscar). TV: He proclaimed in commercials "They make money the old-fashioned way; They earn it."

1984 Indira Nehru Gandhi b. 1917 prime minister of India (1966-77, 1980-84), she was killed by two of her own bodyguards.

1983 George Halas b. 1895 American Football Hall of Famer, player-coach, co-founder of the NFL, and founder of the Chicago Bears. He is the all-time leader in coaching wins (324) and won a record 6 NFL championships. He was also the 1919 Rose Bowl MVP.

1927 John Luther Long b. 1861 American playwright. Writings: Madame Butterfly (1898).

1927 Elizabeth Harrison b. 1849 American educator, leader in the U.S. kindergarten movement. She was one of the founders of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers.

1926 Harry Houdini b. 1874 (Ehrich Weiss), American magician, escape artist, "The Handcuff King." He also made Australia's first successful airplane flight.

1879 "Fighting Joe" Hooker b. 1814 American Civil War general (Union). His proclivity for overnight female "guests" caused his name to be entered into the English language.

1834 Eleuthère Irénée du Pont b. 1771 French-born American industrialist. He founded E.I. du Pont Company (1801) in Delaware to manufacture gunpowder.

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